Special report: Crisis between Israel and Palestine

    RAMALLAH, June 9 (Xinhua) -- The popular referendum in the West Bank and Gaza will most likely be held on July 31, informed Palestinian sources said on Friday.

    The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that President Mahmoud Abbas will issue a formal decree on Saturday announcing the date of the referendum for July 31.

    The referendum is supposed to approve or reject a document issued and signed by leaders of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, calling for a Palestinian state to be established in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

    Abbas said two weeks ago at the beginning of a national dialogue that he would call a popular referendum, only if the Palestinian factions, mainly the ruling Hamas movement, failed to agree on the document.

    The Hamas movement, which rejects the presence of the state of Israel, has turned down the idea of holding a referendum.

    However, recent polls showed that 77 percent of Palestinians support the holding of a referendum and accept the prisoners' document. Enditem